I am living and working in Shanghai, China. I can respond to your orders once each year, in August or September. My next opportunity to do this will be in August or September 2005. If you would like to place an order now, please contact me by email, and we will make arrangements for your purchase to be delivered at a later time.
The King of Pickles is an excellent condiment with grilled or roasted meats or game, including beef, lamb, turkey, goose, rabbit, and venison. Pickled walnuts are also great with cheese and cheese dishes, eggs and egg dishes. Vegetarians will enjoy pickled walnuts with Thai, Mexican, Indian, Schezuan, Jamaican or Cajun cuisine. Pickled walnuts make a unique dinner party gift or stocking stuffer. Those who can wait a year or more to open the jar will be amply rewarded as the flavour becomes more complex with age.
Vancouver Island Pickled Walnuts do not contain sugar or other sweeteners, added salt, supplementary preservatives or artificial colouring
Whenever possible, locally produced organic ingredients are used; spices are imported directly from the Egyptian Spice Bazaar on the Golden Horn in Istanbul, Turkey
Vancouver Island Pickled Walnuts have not been analysed for nutritional composition
All processes are completed by hand (Food Safe Certified)
Recent customers include
Sooke Harbour House Restaurant, Sooke, British Columbia, Canada
Dunsmuir Lodge Restaurant, Sidney, British Columbia, Canada
Embassy of Sweden, Oslo, Norway
2002 G8 Summit, Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada
I can ship my pickled walnuts to you by parcel post. Please follow these links for Canadian postal rates and information for surface delivery of parcels:
To destinations in Canada: to use the functions on this site, you will need to know that my postal code is V9R6B6, and that a 1.85kg parcel of three small jars is 31cm by 16cm by 17cm in size (for example)
Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arkansas, Armed Forces Americas, Armed Forces Europe, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Guam, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Mariana Islands, Marshall Islands, Maryland, Massachesetts, Michigan, Micronesia, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Palau, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virgin Islands, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin: postage for one jar would be $10.25; for six jars would be $16.85; for twelve jars would be $23.45.
Arizona, Armed Forces Pacific, California, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Utah, Wyoming: postage for one jar would be $9.75; for six jars would be $14.55; for twelve jars would be $19.35.
Idaho, Oregon, Washington: postage for one jar would be $9.40; for six jars would be $13.30; for twelve jars would be $17.20.
Select your choice(s) from the stock described below.
Send your email message to: pickledwalnuts@yahoo.com. Be sure to include your postal address, as this may affect the price. To save time, please indicate your alternate choice(s), as supplies of some recipes are limited. If I am unable to supply your choice, I will ask you to make another selection.
I will package your selection(s) and return your email message with the price information for your order. Postal insurance is automatically included at no charge, for orders up to $100.00.
If everything is acceptable to you, purchase an international postal money order for the required amount (see previous step) and send it by regular post to:
Eric Redekop
Suite 607 ~ 305 Milton Street
Nanaimo, British Columbia V9R6B6
CANADA
When I receive your payment, I will post your parcel, and advise you by email that your parcel has been posted so that you will know when to expect delivery.
The walnut tree commonly grown in our area for its nut production is the English, or more properly named, Persian Walnut (Juglas regia), or a commercial cultivar of this species. The American or Black Walnut (Juglans nigra), native to eastern North America, is more commonly grown for its timber. There are two urban landscape trees commonly found on Vancouver Island which might be confused with Walnut (Juglans spp.). These are the planted Chestnut (Castanea spp.), and the indigenous Garry oak (Quercus garryana).
Walnut trees are typically considered to be sub-tropical in distribution. In recent years, walnut cultivation has also become significant in Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand. Here on the east coast of Vancouver Island, walnut trees grow as far south as Victoria and as far north as Campbell River. Since walnuts are not native to Vancouver Island, every tree here is either planted or feral.
I started making pickled walnuts in 1994, from a recipe my grandfather used. He was from southern Russia, from a town called Stavropol, on the northern slopes of the Caucasus Mountains, between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea.
In the winter of 1922, my grandfather left what was to become the Soviet Union. The Russian Army had just withdrawn from northern Persia to deal with counter-revolutionary threats in Moscow, and General Mustafa Kemal was leading the Turks in a war with Greece. Meanwhile, my grandfather secretly made his way across the frontiers of Europe to Poitiers, France, where he took a degree in Electrical Engineering at the university. Soon afterward, he immigrated to Canada and settled in Montreal. Eventually, he ended up in Victoria on Vancouver Island, with a waterfront property in View Royal that had a giant walnut tree.
As long as my grandfather lived in the View Royal house, he made pickles from the walnuts on his tree.
My grandfather died in 1975 and the house was sold. In 1994, while walking in the neighbourhood one afternoon, I noticed fruit on the tree, and stopped to inquire of the new homeowners regarding the walnuts. We talked about my grandfather, and they generously allowed me to pick a few walnuts. Then I went home to search for the old family recipe. I eventually found it on an old index card, written out by hand a decade earlier by my mother. Of course, this family recipe is a closely guarded secret, but there are many other recipes currently available on the internet, for anyone daring enough to try them. These are just a few of the ones I have found over the years:
After making pickled walnuts for several years, I started selling my surplus at temporary markets in my community. Since 1998, my production capacity has doubled three times and my recipe selection has expanded from one (the original family recipe) to 28 unique recipes from twelve different countries around the world: Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Holland, India, Iran, Italy, Mexico, Portugal, Russia and the Ukraine.
2000
Stavropolskaya: in malt vinegar, traditional style, winner of the First Place Blue Ribbon (Pickle ~ Any Other Variety) at the 2001 Coombs Country Fair
Mazandaran: in sugar syrup, with cinnamon, cloves, ginger and nutmeg SOLD OUT
These recipes are available in 300mL jars for $10.00 each.
2002
Stavropolskaya: in malt vinegar, traditional style: 300mL jar: $8.00.
Malinalco: in apple cider vinegar, with lime zest and jalapeno pepper added: 500mL jar: $13.00. SOLD OUT
Mazandaran: whole green walnut preserve in sugar syrup spiced with cinnamon, cloves, ginger and nutmeg: 500mL jar: $10.00. Hand crafted in limited quantity. Winner of the First Place Blue Ribbon (Preserved Nuts) at the 2002 Coombs Country Fair. This exotic "dessert pickle" is enjoyed on its own or served as a condiment with sweet desserts including vanilla ice cream, fruit salads, flans, pies and cobblers, pumpkin pie, tiramisu, chocolate cakes, puddings, custards or meringues. The spiced syrup can also be drizzled over these desserts or added during preparation for extra flavour.
2003
Malinalco (original recipe): in apple cider vinegar, with lime zest and jalapeno pepper ringette added: 500mL jar: $13.00.
Malinalco Extra: in apple cider vinegar, with lime zest and double jalapeno pepper added: 500mL jar: $13.00.
Malinalco Double Extra: in apple cider vinegar, with lime zest and four times as much jalapeno pepper added: 500mL jar: $13.00.
Malinalco Volcano: in apple cider vinegar, with lime zest and thirteen times as much jalapeno pepper added: 500mL jar: $13.00.
For more information about the ingredients, please use the following links:
For those of you who require more information relating to walnuts or pickled walnuts, I have prepared an extensive collection of links. Additional internet resources will be included as I find them or as friends of pickled walnuts report them to me, by email for example.
Finally, I would like to invite all my customers and website visitors to join my Pickled Walnuts Community at MSN.
Thank you for visiting my website. I look forward to hearing from you. And remember, a day without is like a day without clowns...BORING!
